by Paul Churchill | Nov 14, 2016 | Podcast
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Sasha has been sober for just over 5 years… This is her story…
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
This episode was brought to you by Cafe RE!
SHOW NOTES
12 ways to help you stay sober through the holidays. Last year, in Episode 43, I introduced a long list of ways to stay sober, and now, it’s a year later. This holiday season, don’t beat yourself up! Maybe you only get 1 day, but shoot for all the days, and if you miss a day, get back on the wagon without beating yourself up… Be kind to yourself. The holidays are about giving, give yourself kindness.
12 Ways to Stay Sober Through the Holidays:
- Meditation – All of the following activities have a meditative and creative quality; guitar, piano, painting, woodwork, organizing, stuffing envelopes, whatever it is for you.
- Water – Hydrate! First thing I do in the morning is drink about 35 oz of lemon water.
- Give yourself a Hall Pass! I plan on eating 70% of the pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving Dinner this year
- Exercise for 10 min during the first hour of the day. I stretch, do band work, and pushups.
- Practice visualization. I practice saying no to drinks and practice making good decisions in my sobriety.
- Tell someone no and put yourself first, i.e. “I will not be driving your ass around on NYE.”
- Shovel snow or push dirt around. Think, “Service, service, service.”
- Talk to yourself.
- Start doing something small and then in two years tell me how much of a difference that has made in your life.
- Turtle and not the hare. I’m playing the long game.
- Connect with your Community daily – Café RE.
- Share!
[ 12:34 ] Paul introduces Sasha.
Sasha’s last drink was a couple days before Sept. 2nd, 2011…Sasha is from Washington D.C. She is 31 and has her own coaching business. For fun she likes to hangout at home in her pajamas, being a mega-introvert!
[ 14:38 ] Talk to us about your Elevator. When did you hit bottom?
September of 2011 was the culmination of a long summer of heavy partying. “I was sitting in my therapists office with my head in my hands trying to recap my summer which I couldn’t remember. My therapist handed me an AA flyer and slowly I started going to a weekly meeting.”
[ 17:01 ] How much did you drink? Talk to us about your drinking habits.
“I was an all or nothing binge drinker. I probably partied one night on, one night off. When I went out, I drank as much as I possibly could. As soon as I had 2 or 3 drinks there was a switch, there was no off button.”
[ 27:17 ] How did you do it? Walk us through the first day, the first week.
“I dropped into an AA meeting to listen. I heard stories of human suffering, pain and joy. It was like a humanities class. People were honest and really told the truth about how they were feeling.” Sasha talks about how isolating alcohol is and the antidote was really learning to connect and let her walls down. Sasha was going to one ‘speaker’ meeting a week. She got a sponsor after 10 mos.
[ 30:43 ] Sasha talks about her experience as a ‘dry drunk’.
[ 31:07 ] Tell us about your program.
“Principles of recovery flow throughout my day. I like to let things flow. I wake up with a prayer. I have daily readers (an app and a book) that set the tone for my day. I make several 12-step meetings a week and try to meditate for 10 mins. a day.” Sasha also does yoga. Yoga has been crucial to her recover journey, connecting mind, body and soul.
[ 40:02 ] Rapid Fire Round
- What was your worst memory from drinking? “The summer before my freshman year of high school. I drank 2 beers and passed out.”
- Did you ever have an “oh-shit” moment? “Chronic stress from acting so poorly.”
- What’s your plan moving forward? “Sit with my self. Sobriety is all about staying with myself.”
- What is your favorite resource in recover? “The Hazelden App. The books “The Language of Letting Go” and “Journey to the Heart,” both by Melody Beattie. Yoga and 12-step meetings.”
- What’s the best advice you’ve ever received (on sobriety)? “When in doubt sober is always a better choice. Sobriety never hurt anyone.”
“You Might be an Alcoholic If…”
“You spend an inordinate amount of time trying to convince yourself that you’re not an alcoholic.”
Resources mentioned in RE 91:
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
www.recoveryelevator.com/amazon/
Connect with Cafe RE
- For $12.00 per month, you can have unlimited, private access to groups of like-minded people via in-person meet-ups, unsearchable Facebook groups, and travel.
- First month FREE with Promo Code: Elevator.
Connect with Sasha:
www.sashaptozzi.com
Hazelden App
The Language of Letting Go – by Melody Beattie
Journey to the Heart – by Melody Beattie
“We took the elevator down, we gotta take the stairs back up. WE can do this!”
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
www.recoveryelevator.com/amazon/
This episode was brought to you by Cafe RE and get your daily AA email here!
by Paul Churchill | Nov 7, 2016 | Podcast
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Christine has been sober for 129 days… This is her story…
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
This episode was brought to you by Cafe RE!
SHOW NOTES
What is a dry drunk? It is someone who just doesn’t drink anymore, who has ‘quit’ using sheer willpower… ***Spoiler Alert*** Willpower eventually runs out. We need a program, something and someone to fall back on to support us. Your program can look completely unique to yourself and doesn’t just have to be AA (although many do recommend it).
When you quit using sheer willpower, sure, you become healthier, physically feeling like you’ve been born again and the memory of passing out in a Cracker Barrel buffet line begins to fade. You’ll start to gain confidence in your recent found ‘sober’ success and you say to yourself, “I did this. I quit. I got this.” (Uh-oh, those three little words, think RE #86... Problem right there!) Eventually, we will forget entirely about the Cracker Barrel buffet line, which is a problem because, A – their cornbread is fantastic and, B – that was the reason you quit drinking. That was not a highlight in your life. Studies show that humans have selective memory and we tend to remember the good things (i.e. the Cornbread) and not the bad things (i.e. the Ambulance, the Buffet Line, and the Cracker Barrel experience).
As a dry drunk, when we quit drinking, our genius plan is to simply not drink, thinking that one day we’ll be able to drink normally again. If you have this thought, don’t worry, every alcoholic has, but the dry drunks don’t ever address this or relinquish the thought. The key is to surrender.
This is what I call ‘white knuckling it’. I think everyone is white knuckling it when they quit drinking but the dry drunks keep white knuckling it. Right about the time when all the physical healing has taken place (for me, it took over a year), is when the true white knuckling takes place. It’s when Gary (Paul’s alter-ego) starts to make an appearance. It’s when ‘we’ start having the internal dialogue of justification. It’s when our unconscious minds have seen the barrage of alcohol adds on social media, television, and everywhere else our open eyes and ears look. This is when the cognitive dissonance starts to take place… Translation, we need help! We can’t do this alone…
[ 08:12 ] Paul introduces Christine.
Christine’s last drink was June 13th of 2016, about 129 days ago. She has been sober for just over 4 months. Christine grew up in a small town in central Michigan. She is now studying chemistry at Montana State University and is almost finished with her Ph.D. She loves hunting, fishing, camping and anything else outside…
[ 09:23 ] Paul talks about first meeting Christine in 2011 when he was a dry drunk and how she helped him in 2014 to make a change after hitting his bottom.
Christine remembers that Paul was hurting so badly and she was so glad that Paul gave her a call. There were lots of tears, lots and lots of tears (and it wasn’t just the horses and pastures they were passing causing an allergic reaction) as they drove down canyon from Big Sky Ski Resort where Paul was DJ-ing a wedding. Christine urged Paul to call his mom, dad, and brother, to seek support… Christine has been an integral part of Paul’s sobriety.
[ 14:03 ] Talk to us about your Elevator. What was your bottom?
“Bottoms are always defined differently… I had decided back in December of 2015 to quit drinking. I stopped drinking for 2 weeks before deciding that I wasn’t a ‘quitter’! I picked right up where I left off. I wasn’t fully committed, I hadn’t taken the steps I needed.” In June, Christine had a “what am I doing with my life” moment on her way to fishing… She had a couple beers on the road and stopped to let the dog out before getting to the fishing spot, where she realized that her bottle of whiskey had spilled everywhere. “I was horrified, my heart started to flutter and I started to panic…” On the way back from fishing, Christine smacked a deer. This really opened her eyes as so much more could have gone wrong… Christine took this as a sign that it was time to make a change.
[17:51 ] How did you do it? Walk us through the first day, the first week.
“Those first few days were such a blur. I started intensive outpatient therapy (IOP)… I was a wreck. The IOP really helped. I had a friend in West Yellowstone who I relied on heavily during my early days of sobriety. I spent a lot of time on the fishing boat out in the middle of nowhere.”
[ 19:36 ] Christine comments on how important it is to get outdoors…
“Fly fishing has just become my absolute passion. To this day, anytime I feel wrong, or off, or I have cravings, I throw whatever I’m doing to the side and head to the river.” Since being sober, Christine has not torn any waders or taken any ‘accidental’ swims in 43 degree weather! Fishing has taught Christine the beauty of being totally present.
[ 22:51 ] How much did you drink? Talk to us about your drinking habits before you quit.
“I was on an exponential curve downwards… That last month of drinking was just sliding… I was finishing almost a bottle of whiskey a day.”
“I’d use booze to handle work, to handle stress, to handle literally everything…”
[ 24:31 ] Christine talks about her bipolar diagnosis.
Christine is diagnosed with bipolar II, which is an elevated state of mood… “My doctors and counselors kept telling me that I drank too much… They told me that my moods, the ups and downs, would improve if I stopped drinking. Alcohol would just make the highs higher and the lows lower… I could just drink and drink and drink when I was in a mania state, but when I was depressed, it would drag me down and down and down…”
Christine got honest with herself and those around her…
[ 29:40 ] What changes did you see?
“The biggest part was telling people about it. When I didn’t have the strength, I had other people to keep me in line. I don’t think anybody can do it alone.” Christine lost 25lbs. just from quitting drinking. Going to bed at night is still challenging for Christine, but it’s a lot better than pounding shots to blackout. “Some days are still absolute hell, my emotions get the best of me… These are the hardest. Sometimes I head into work at 3am to keep me from drinking.”
[ 33:29 ] Walk us through a day in your life and how you stay sober today.
“I don’t really have a day to day sobriety plan. I haven’t fully gotten on board with AA, but I do go to a Friday and Saturday AA group at 9pm. I have a bunch of friends there. I listen to this podcast and participate in the Facebook Group… So many times I have looked at that and have been so thankful. I see two different counselors, an addiction counselor and a mental health counselor. Honestly, I’m so busy that I just dig my head into what I’m doing and be there and be present.”
[ 35:38 ] Rapid Fire Round
- What was your worst memory from drinking? “I was 16 and I was binge drinking. I pounded 8 shots of UV-Blue and 10 minutes later was puking blue… My mom was not so thrilled.”
- Did you ever have an “oh-shit” moment? “When I smacked into that deer… I realized it was time.”
- What’s your plan moving forward? “To keep sober. I consider future events that could be triggering and talk out a plan to stay sober, making sure that I have an out.”
- What’s your favorite resource in recovery? “My group at the Alcohol and Drug Services here in Bozeman, MT.”
- What’s the best advice you’ve ever received (on sobriety)? “Get an accountability partner, giving them permission to call you out on your crap!”
- What parting piece of guidance can you give listeners who are in recovery or thinking about quitting drinking? “Dive in. Do it. Don’t give up. It’s going to suck at first, but a week from now it’ll be better, just keep going.”
“You Might be an Alcoholic If…”
“If you try to drink the split whiskey in the bottom of your cooler that’s mixed with the water….” (Thanks Paul!)
“If you start selling your fly rods so you can buy another bottle of whiskey.” – Christine
Resources mentioned in RE 90:
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
www.recoveryelevator.com/amazon/
Connect with Cafe RE
- For $12.00 per month, you can have unlimited, private access to groups of like-minded people via in-person meet-ups, unsearchable Facebook groups, and travel.
- First month FREE with Promo Code: Elevator.
“We took the elevator down, we gotta take the stairs back up. WE can do this!”
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
www.recoveryelevator.com/amazon/
This episode was brought to you by Cafe RE and get your daily AA email here!
by Paul Churchill | Oct 31, 2016 | Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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Zach has been sober for 3.5 years… This is his story…
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
This episode was brought to you by Cafe RE!
SHOW NOTES
“You gotta get through it to get to it…” Open your eyes and start to notice those around you. Often, you’ll find others who don’t drink. Talk to them, discover why they don’t drink… Some of these people quit for religious reasons, some for health, and others for personal reasons. Some are able to just quit on the spot, others not so much. Yeah, not all of us are so lucky to just suddenly decide to quit drinking… These individuals who do own up to their problems and the fortunes in their life. They take ownership. There are tons of studies highlighting different stats on sobriety (check out the links in the show notes below).
[ 10:53 ] Paul introduces Zach.
Zach has twin boys and has been sober for 3.5 years, his last drink was March 9th (4 years ago) at about 3am. Zach is 27, and born and raised in a small city just North of the Atlanta area. He has been married for two years. By day Zach is a marketer and by night he is a self-proclaimed beat-boxer for his kids.
[ 13:28 ] Talk to us about your Elevator. What led up to you quitting drinking?
“I quit 1,000 times in my own head… It’s a revolving circle.” Zach started drinking when he was about 12 years old, when he had about 3 Budweisers and remembered waking up in the pool. “I remember at that point wanting to make my life all about drinking.” Zach continued to drink all through high school… Zach got expelled from school for the last half of his senior year due to drinking. “That’s kind of where I kick-started my ‘drinking career’.” Zach was 19 when he got his second arrest due to drinking and had to spend 30 days in jail. This was the first time when Zach thought, “Ok, this is me, this is alcohol.”
[ 18:25 ] What were your drinking habits like?
The second Zach got out of jail he found a Bud Ice in a friend’s fridge and was at the bar that night, still underage. Zach usually took Mondays and Tuesdays off… In his early 20s it shifted to needing a drink to feel calm. “I started buying airplane bottles of rum. I was living with my girlfriend at the time and she knew I drank often, but I would drink all day long when she was gone and then pop a beer open when she came home in the evening, acting like it was my first drink.”
[ 21:31 ] Did you ever try to moderate?
“I’d kick liquor away and just focus on beer. I’d binge drink real hard on the weekends. Right at the end of 22 I started diving into other substances… I got into meth and then I didn’t have to drink. Once I made that leap I felt really defeated.” Zach’s own father introduced him to meth. (Unfortunately, his dad is still walking that story.) Thankfully, Zach didn’t get addicted to meth and was able to back off of that substance, which let the drinking pick back up.
[ 25:02 ] Alcohol is an extremely addictive substance. How do you feel about that?
“I completely agree. It was like relearning to walk and talk (on choosing sobriety). Everything used to spike my interest in drinking… It’s so highly addictive.”
[ 26:36 ] Zach talks about his father and living with a family of addictive patterns.
[ 28:56 ] How did you do it? Talk to us about how you got sober.
“It was just an ordinary night… I got home at about 3am. I had to crawl through the window because I couldn’t find my keys. I slept in ’til about 10am and awoke to missed calls from my girlfriend…” Zach had missed her Crossfit competition, something that was extremely important to her. “It was like the 10th time I had missed something. She was broken… Mentally, I couldn’t tell another lie. I was exhausted.” When she came home later Zach broke down and asked for help.
Those first few months were tough. “I was trying to fit in, I was not answering any phone calls. I was rationalizing it… I was white-knuckling it for about 2 mos. I was just a dry drunk…” Zach ended up at an AA meeting on his way to the liquor store… He was blown away by the diversity of the room and yet everyone was telling ‘his’ story. Zach discovered his first glance of hope at this AA meeting. “You can have a better lifestyle, a better life.”
[ 35:23 ] Zach talks about getting a sponsor and working his program. Buddy, from RE #67, became Zach’s sponsor.
[ 37:53 ] How do you stay sober today?
“I try to get up earlier than my kids so I can read… If I meet with Buddy we go through the step work, the stories or just kick it and drink some coffee… I try to hit 3 meetings a week, it allows me to share. It helps me hold myself accountable. I’m involved in a non-profit, Orphan Aid Liberia. Humility has been a big word in my recovery… Now, I can actually look outward and give back.”
[ 41:23 ] Rapid Fire Round
- What was your worst memory from drinking? “Blue light. Anything to do with a cop.”
- Did you ever have an “oh-shit” moment? “Woke up one morning, my head was hurting so bad and I couldn’t find a bottle opener to open a Corona, so I smashed the bottle on the counter to get a drink.”
- What’s your plan moving forward? “To do daily amends, doing the next right thing day after day and just trying to give back.”
- What’s your favorite resource in recovery? “Besides Buddy, is having AA to fellowship with.”
- What’s the best advice you’ve ever received (on sobriety)? “Let go or get dragged.”
- What parting piece of guidance can you give listeners who are in recovery or thinking about quitting drinking? “There’s nothing quite like the experience of sobriety… Sobriety has given me so much more than I ever thought. You deserve this. You deserve to live whatever life you want to.”
“You Might be an Alcoholic If…”
“Your job gets in the way of your drinking.”
Resources mentioned in RE 89:
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
www.recoveryelevator.com/amazon/
Connect with Cafe RE
- For $12.00 per month, you can have unlimited, private access to groups of like-minded people via in-person meet-ups, unsearchable Facebook groups, and travel.
- First month FREE with Promo Code: Elevator.
Recovery & Rehab Links:
Join Recovery Elevator for a Recovery Retreat Summer Camp Style in Bozeman, MT! Stay tuned… More information to come!
“We took the elevator down, we gotta take the stairs back up. WE can do this!”
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
www.recoveryelevator.com/amazon/
This episode was brought to you by Cafe RE and get your daily AA email here!
by Paul Churchill | Oct 26, 2016 | Blog, Helpful Tips
I have heard it said that to recover from an addiction, you need some intangible qualities. Among them are honesty, willingness, and an open-mind. These qualities may not come easily. They may only develop after you take some actions that you do not yet believe in, such as attending 12 step or other support meetings, listening to people you may once have shrugged off, or trying to practice a new set of principles. All these things usually are contrary to the nature of most alcoholics and addicts. Yet, I believe it is through action that you can also bring about a change in your outlook.
To recognize that you have a problem, you need to first be honest with yourself about your problem. Self-delusion is a roadblock that many addicts and alcoholics will stumble over. It prevents you from taking a good, reasonable look at your life and your circumstances. To remain self-deluded is to fool yourself into thinking you are perfectly fine, when in reality you are far from it. In so many instances, you are the last person who realizes you have a problem with substance abuse, and it is all too plain to see for everyone in your life. Getting honest with yourself about your using will allow you to begin to take steps toward recovery of your mind and body.
The open-mind then becomes a key trait. As you have become honest with yourself, you can then allow new ideas to filter in. Much like water flowing through a charcoal filter, it gets purified and the contaminants get removed. You are then able to grasp and see concepts that once would have been impossible. This all happens as your mind and body recover from your addiction. It takes time, and it is not easy, but it is attainable with effort.
Lastly, is willingness: for the alcoholic or addict, no real progress can be made in recovery until they are willing to change their behaviors and attitudes. Consistent sobriety may be hard or impossible to achieve without some degree of willingness. By being willing to take different actions and accept other viewpoints, you can then develop more honesty and a more open mind and thus grow as a person.
BIO:
Andy is a blogger for Step One Rehab. Through his writing, he attempts to raise awareness about addiction, substance abuse, and mental health issues. The goal of Step One Rehab is to match premium addiction treatment facilities with the needs of clients. Andy writes daily articles for Step One’s blog. To learn more, visit their website or check them out on Facebook, or Twitter.
by Paul Churchill | Oct 24, 2016 | Podcast
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Val has been sober for 6 months… This is her story…
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
This episode was brought to you by Cafe RE!
SHOW NOTES
If you drink enough alcohol over time our brains will change due to the response to alcohol. Some of the damage is irreversible, thus proving that you can pick up right where you left off (upon relapse). This is because there is still a dopamine hypersensitivity. Relapse is part of Paul’s story… After being sober for 2.5 years, Paul got another 8mos. of drinking under his belt, picking up right where he left off. There was no ramp-up phase because Paul’s brain is hyper-sensitive to alcohol. Good news! Even though in the brain there is this environment where dopamine hyper-sensitivity still exists, if you don’t drink then it’s not activated. This change is irreversible, but, if you don’t drink then it doesn’t react… Check out RE 87 for more detailed info on dopamine and our crazy brains.
[ 06:34 ] Paul introduces Val.
Val took her last drink on April 8th, 2016, just about 6 months ago. She is 44, married, and has 3 kids and one grandchild. She is originally from Billings, MT and has lived in the Big Sky area for 20 years. She loves to bake, knit, garden, camp, hike and just be outside.
[ 09:25 ] Talk to us about your Elevator. When did you hit bottom?
“Well, I’ve hit many bottoms in my life, but I finally reached that point where I knew I needed to change or else I was going to lose everything.” This was not Val’s first attempt at quitting drinking. She first tried to quit in her mid-20s when she decided to start having kids. Val quit drinking for 8 years, but was miserable. After owning a restaurant and dealing with the stress of that, Val broke down and started drinking again… After 8 years of sobriety! “That’s just how I dealt with stress. (Drinking) was the only way I knew how.”
[ 11:03 ] What is a dry drunk?
“I was not drinking, but my mind was still crazy. I was still trying to control everything around me, I didn’t understand life and I always felt that life was out to get me, that I was the victim.” Val explains her unhappiness as afraid of people, not being comfortable in her own skin, not having a higher power and trying to do everything herself… Now, Val is asking for help. “Before, I felt that I was a failure if I had to ask for help. My expectations that I held were so high and I could never meet them.”
[ 12:57 ] How much did you drink? Talk to us about your drinking habits.
Val was drinking at least a bottle of wine a night, and more like two bottles a night. “Because I was drinking wine, I thought it was not a big deal, that it wasn’t a problem.” Val tried every rule in the book: just on the weekends, or only in the evening… “When I started drinking during the day, that’s when I started having oh-shit moments.” Val always used the stress of work to qualify needing a drink.
[ 14:30 ] Val talks about losing her restaurant and the feelings of failure and stress that accompanied the experience.
[ 15:48 ] How did you do it? Walk us through the first day, the first week.
“The first day was a morning that I was so sick that I couldn’t go to work. I was so sick, sicker than I had ever been. It was a Tuesday night, and I was just sitting at home watching Netflix.” Val was watching Amy (the Amy Winehouse documentary) and discovered that Amy had died from alcohol poisoning… Val had a huge wakeup moment, realizing that the same thing could easily happen to her. Val white-knuckled it for about 30 days before she started drinking again. After connecting with Paul on a webinar, she accepted help and went to her first AA meeting.
[ 18:59 ] Tell us about your program.
“I read in the Big Book everyday if I can, usually before bed. I know a lot of people try to start their day with a reading, but I have a kid to get ready…” Val goes to her home group meeting every week, has a service position, meets with her sponsor every week and she is on a committee. Val chooses to stay involved.
[ 19:49 ] Do you feel more confident with 6mos. of sobriety?
We are all shaky when we step onto new foundations. “It is getting better, but I know I have work to do. I need to keep working on my program. I’m on the 4th step right now… Writing stuff out has been very helpful.” Val shares one of her resentments which is part of the 4th step, taking responsibility for her actions, emotions and experiences. “You need to forgive yourself in order to let the anger out… It feels awesome. I look at the world in a different way.”
[ 24:39 ] What have you learned about yourself through sobriety?
“I’ve been very dishonest with myself throughout life and I don’t want to be that way anymore. I just want to be who I am… I always felt that nobody would want to know the real me, but that’s not true, that’s the disease speaking.”
[ 25:46 ] What are your thoughts on relapse?
“Well, I’m only a drink away from relapse. It can happen so easily. I have to be sure to always call my sponsor if I have that urge to drink. I’m not hiding anymore… I’m interacting and asking for help when I need it.”
[ 26:24 ] Rapid Fire Round
- What was your worst memory from drinking? “Not having a memory… Blacking out and not remembering what I did.”
- Did you ever have an “oh-shit” moment? “That morning I woke up so sick that I couldn’t go to work.”
- What’s your plan moving forward? “Continue working my program, make the relationship with my higher power stronger (accepting that I have a higher power) and I also think that I need to start worrying about what I think about myself instead of worrying about what others think.”
- What’s the best advice you’ve ever received (on sobriety)? “You can’t fix it right away, it’s going to take awhile.”
- What parting piece of guidance can you give listeners who are in recovery or thinking about quitting drinking? “Just do it. Just get yourself to a meeting.”
“You Might be an Alcoholic If…”
“You pass out before the Amy Winehouse movie is over.”
Paul’s Life Hack:
Play the long game…
Resources mentioned in RE 88:
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
www.recoveryelevator.com/amazon/
Connect with Cafe RE
- For $12.00 per month, you can have unlimited, private access to groups of like-minded people via in-person meet-ups, unsearchable Facebook groups, and travel.
- First month FREE with Promo Code: Elevator.
Sobriety Tracker
Sober Selfies! – Send your Sober Selfie and your Success Story to info@recoveryelevator.com
The Compound Effect
“We took the elevator down, we gotta take the stairs back up. WE can do this!”
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
www.recoveryelevator.com/amazon/
This episode was brought to you by Cafe RE and get your daily AA email here!
